Auburn city Police Advisory Board holds first meeting

By Erich T. Doerrfor the Daily News

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A group of about 20 people turned out at the Auburn City Hall Tuesday night for the first meeting of the city's Police Advisory Board. The board's goal is to develop a proposal on the Auburn police funding issue that will be submitted for approval at a future city commission meeting.

The board consists of Mayor Pro-Tem B.J. Raab and city commissioners Matt Hardy and Ann Machelski. The new proposal will develop a direction for the Auburn police, which currently consists of one police officer and a hired deputy from the Bay County Sheriff's Department also patrolling the area.

"We're all in the same boat, we want what's best for Auburn," Raab said. "We'll meet monthly, whatever it takes."

Auburn's Police Officer Sylvester "Sly" Poltorak was present at the meeting and gave a presentation on how he believes the city's law enforcement funding should be spent. According to Poltorak, the city's police budget could best be allocated by switching from the sheriff's deputy and adding another full-time city police officer with one or more part-time deputies.

"The people want their officers in the city," Poltorak said, noting that the county deputy patrols out into Auburn's neighboring townships in addition to the city.

According to figures presented in a packet by Poltorak, the use of the deputy costs the city $73,223 after all expenses. Poltorak listed the costs of another full-time officer at $51,147.79 with a single part-time officer at $17,465.14.

When factoring in other police expenditures such as uniforms, office supplies and patrol vehicles with their associated costs of gas and repair, Poltorak believes the changes could cut the police department budget from $179,852 to $178,441.93.

The board saw another proposal from former Auburn Mayor John McNally during the public comment section of the evening.

McNally's proposal also recommended removal of deputy with a shift to a four-man department. Under this plan, three of the officers would be rotating with the fourth functioning as an alternate.

"There are a lot of benefits to a four-man department," McNally said, noting it would allow for officers on-duty 160 hours a week, thus lowering response times.

Nothing was set in stone regarding the issue at the meeting, with all three members of the board noting the need for accurate numbers in every area before making any decisions.

"We need additional information on costs," Raab said.

"I don't think we can proceed until we have everything," Hardy said.

Many citizens were at the meeting to voice their opinions and make suggestions. One of the more popular suggestions was to put the final budget up to a vote or at least having a city-wide survey.

"This is our police department, we should be making the decision," citizen Susan Emerson said, supporting the idea of a possible vote.

"Our whole purpose is to get the maximum coverage for what the city can afford," citizen Max Alvord said.

Another citizen idea proposed using volunteer officers at larger events such as fairs. The board stated if this idea were to be considered, it would have to involve looking into liability issues that could arise from their use.

The potential changes to the city's police force were the main platform that Auburn's Mayor Eric Larsen was elected on. Larsen attended Tuesday's meeting and was pleased with the results.

"We got some good information tonight," Larsen said. "This is what I wanted, public input at an open forum."

According to Raab, research and development of proposals is likely to take several months. The board's next meeting will take place on Monday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m.